Council of Stellar Management to Empower Players Through Representative Democracy in EVE Online

March 19, 2008

Council of Stellar Management to Empower
Players Through Representative Democracy in EVE Online

Players gain a new level of in-game and
out-of-game representation aimed at improving all aspects of the second largest
MMO in US and Europe

CCP has announced the formation of the Council of
Stellar Management (CSM), the first democratically-elected governing body in a
virtual world. Its inception marks a decisive leap in the evolution in online
worlds, especially in terms of how a publisher interacts with its community. For
EVE Online, the council encompasses the next logical step in the complex social
and economic systems for which EVE is well known.

"The voice of the player has always been an
integral and driving force in the maturation of EVE Online, so the institution
of the Council of Stellar Management is natural at this point," said Pétur skarsson,
CCP Researcher and project lead for the Council of Stellar Management. "The CSM
will empower players with a formal communications channel to directly impact the
development of their society as it grows more and more advanced."

The CSM will consist of nine representatives and
five alternates, each elected by popular vote from EVE's player base, a
population of cyber citizens that's nearing the quarter-million mark. The call
for candidacy opened March 18 and will be followed by a two-week long election
period slated to begin May 5 and ending on May 19. During their six-month term,
delegates to the council will deliberate on issues of importance to the EVE
community and work with representatives of CCP on the future evolution of EVE
Online.

"EVE Online has evolved from an MMORPG to a
virtual world with a virtual society. It is our role as its caretakers to evolve
our approach as well, through economics research, political science or other
aspects of operations or development," said Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP.
"A democratic election process of representatives is one of mankind's greatest
inventions. We are bringing a version of that to EVE now with hope of it
allowing us to expand EVE Online in a similar way to what we've seen on Earth."